Rewards & Prizes

Discover the Challenge Rewards! The exclusive prizes of the Character Design Challenge community! Every month you can win awesome art books, graphic novels, digital brushes and hours of video tutorials..

The Challenge Rewards are the official prizes of the Character Design Challenge, exclusively available to our Patreon Supporters, as a way to thank them for their invaluable help. Each Challenge Reward contains some of the best resources for illustrators and visual development artists available online and also two of the most interesting, original and well crafted art books and graphic novels crowd-funded in the past years. At the end of each challenge, the 3 most well designed artworks submitted by the Supportersof the Character Design Challenge on our Patreon page, will receive one of these amazing prizes delivered to their door or directly via email! The 3 artworks that will win the monthly rewarded will also be featured on our website and social media pages, along with the classic Winners of the Character Design Challenge and the Special Mentions for the month.

What are the Criteria to win the Challenge Rewards and where can I find the rules?

Just as for the classic Winners of the Character Design Challenge, the entries for the Challenge Rewards will be judged on both creative and technical skills, originality and outstanding draftsmanship. The CDR Team will judge all the artworks, and their judgement will be final. Visit the Rules of the Challenge on our website to learn more about it.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE for THE Challenge REWARDS?

The Challenge Rewards are exclusively available for the Supporters (or for the students and employees of our Advertisers and Partners) of the Character Design Challenge on our Patreon Page. Please check all the details below and visit the Membership sectionon our website to learn how to access all the Challenge Rewards.

WHere should I post the artwork to be considered for the Challenge Rewards?

In order to be considered for the Challenge Rewards, you simply need to re-post your artwork directly on our Patreon Page. You can post your artwork in the Facebook Group of the Character Design Challenge before or after posting your design on Patreon (remember that you can post only a single artwork for each challenge). Artworks can be posted on Patreon exclusively by the Supporters (or Advertisers and Partners, see more info below). Freebies and Tippers can post their artwork only in our Facebook Group.

IMPORTANT: If you are not on Facebook and don’t want to open an account there, you can simply post your design on our Patreon page and it will be automatically validated as an entry for the contest.

WHAT IS THE OPEN SUBMISSION DAY AND DEADLINE?

Open submission day, deadline and specific guidelines for our monthly challenges can be found in the Theme of the Month section of our website.

How many Challenge rewards are available each month?

There are three different Challenge Rewards:

Digital Painting Reward

Graphic Novel Reward

Character Design Reward

Digital Painting Reward

Ctrl+Paint has brought hours of video tutorials!

Concept Art Starter Kit / Digital Painting Starter Kit

Over 12 hours of video tutorials created by Matt Kohr from CtrlPaint.com! By far the most immersive, useful, and honest online training program and painting course on the Internet. This collections contains essential lessons for every digital painter and are especially crucial for beginners, there is a huge emphasis on art theory and great practical tips to achieve results. The tutorials will not be exclusively about technique, but they will also focus on mindset, ideas and how to turn them into final art. Each of these series offers assignments and drills, ranging from simple to complex. Get ready to practice!

graphic Novel Reward

Tatai Lab & Spaceman Project have brought four amazing books!

Lùmina Artbook / Yiot

Lumina's Artbook contains all the studies (character design, environment design, concept art, sketches, etc.) that led to the creation of the graphic novel Lùmina. The material in the book is ordered following a chronological idea, from the very first studies of the characters, up to the most precise definition of Lumina's world-building. This 120 pages book was created by the talented Italian artists Emanuele Tenderini and Linda Cavallini it’s a limited edition, once the copies are finished, this book will never be reprinted.

Yiot is a beautiful artbook of over 100 pages of pure madness and aesthetic creativity, printed in multricromia, and bound with the bodoniana stitching. A real jewel of art and print technology, embellished with an exceptional introduction by Maestro Igort. The book is a limited edition of 500 copies, numbered and signed by the author Linda Cavallini.

Brigada: Omnibus

The epic trilogy of the world famous Spanish artist and storyteller Enrique Fernández. The graphic novel tells the story of a veteran dwarf and his party against the forces of the cruel black elves.

Synopsis: In a world overrun by war, seasoned captain Ivvro was chosen to lead an impossible and fierce BRIGADE, made up of convicts sentenced to give their lives in the battle against the dark elves. During battle, the squadron was swallowed by a strange mist, transported to a chaotic world very different than their own, and forced to survive as a group. Lost and scattered, they attempted to regroup and look for a way to return to their home. While imprisoned in this strange mist that alters the reality of everything in its wake, called the Voirandeer, they ran into beings who were just as lost as they were, and who were also trying to survive in this strange new land.

IMPORTANT: The final chapter is in development right now, so the Winners of the Graphic Novel Reward will receive the Brigada Omnibus book starting from July 2020!

Character Design Reward

Masters Of Anatomy & 21 Draw have brought four amazing books!

Character Design Masterclass: Book One / Anatomy in Action

Two incredible books that will help you understand every step of the character design process, expand your design knowledge, create action poses and much more! Imagine being in a classroom made up of 130 of the world's greatest character designers, artists who have worked for Disney, Pixar, DreamWorks, Sony Animation, Marvel and DC. Character Design Master Class: Book One aims to improve your ability to design meaningful and modern characters. Anatomy In Action will teach you how to create bold, electric poses coupled with realistic anatomy thanks to the dynamic poses examples created by a true master of line art and anatomy: Raul Moreno!

21 Draw: Book one / Illustrator's Guidebook

Two amazing books that will teach you about character movement and expression, line of action, figure balance, details distribution and loads more! Featuring the work of more than 100 giants of the entertainment and gaming industry, top artists working for companies like Disney, Pixar, DreamWorks, Marvel, D.C Comics, Rockstar Games, 21 Draw: Book One and Illustrator's Guidebook will improve your ability to draw hands & faces and will help you understand drawing perspective and backgrounds. With full in-depth tutorials and with over 1000 amazing character design references, the books will help you understand the importance of line weight, colouring, composition in your work and you will learn all you need to know to create amazing characters!

LEgal Notes

Character Design References™ is not responsible for any copyright infringement on part of the individual artists, our intent is merely to inspire others to create original works based on a common theme. For questions regarding specific pieces of artwork please follow the links for the website, portfolio or social pages provided by the author in the caption of the design posted in our Facebook group or contact directly the profile associated with it. Artists participating in the Character Design Challenge must be a member of the Character Design Challenge group on Facebook or on Patreon. Ensure you have read and fully understood the rules of the competition, the Character Design Challenge Terms of Use, the Facebook Terms of Use and the Patreon Terms of Use before entering an artwork for the contest. The Challenge Rewards are limited and exclusively available to the Supporters of the Character Design References™on Patreon.

IMPORTANT: The Character Design Challenge is being organised and managed by Character Design References™. The Character Design Challenge is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook or Patreon. By entering this contest, you agree to a complete release of Facebook and Patreon from any or all liability in connection with this contest. The project partners and sponsors are listed on www.characterdesignreferences.com.

Character Design References

Character Design References™ (CDR) is a webzine dedicated to the art of animation, video games, comics and illustration and it's the largest community of character designers on the Internet. Every day we share the finest artworks, collect the best tutorials and showcase the greatest animated shorts with an international community of over 500.000 artists, art enthusiasts and animation fans.

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Since 2013, Character Design References has supported and inspired a new generation of artists. We share only the finest artworks, the best tutorials and the greatest animated shorts with an international community of over 500.000 artists, art enthusiasts and animation fans.